Day 6: Reflections on Hope - Week 1
Now it's your turn to reflect on hope.
Dear Friends,
Happy St. Nicholas Day! May your freshly polished shoes be filled with gifts and sugary treats.
For the past five days, I’ve been reflecting on hope. I have twenty-five days to go to complete my Thirty Days of Hope commitment. However, it’s clear to me from the comments and emails I’ve received that you have a few things you want to say about hope too. That was my hope!!! In my ideal world, this is a communal project. I’m incredibly grateful for all your thoughts and contributions. So, here’s my plan.
From Sunday through Thursday, I’ll post new hope-filled content.
On Friday, I’ll recap the week’s content with a focus on the guiding quotes and the reflection questions I’ve shared that week, with links to additional resources. This will allow you to catch up if you’ve fallen behind in your reading (click Read full story on any post you missed). It’s then up to you to pick a reflection question/project or two to delve deeper into over the weekend. Please share your results with me. And remember, it doesn’t have to be prose. Send your poems, photographs, photos of artwork you’ve created: collages, textiles, pottery, jewelry, sculptures, or anything else you’ve created in response. If you have kids, invite them to participate! You can email them to me at annette@annettemarquis.com or, if it’s text, comment on this post.
On Saturday, I’ll post things you’ve shared, cross-post another Substack writer’s reflections on hope, or share someone else’s writing. If you have writing, artwork, or a creative project you’ve done in the past that’s hope-filled, about your vision of the world, or anything you’ve created to be inspiring to people in times of darkness and uncertainty, please share that with me too. You can also email that to me at annette@annettemarquis.com, or, if it’s text, comment on this post.
So here we go with Week 1’s recap!
An excerpt from “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all
Read the full poem here: “Hope” is the thing with feathers | The Poetry Foundation
Day 1 Reflection
What does it mean to you to have hope (whether or not you’re feeling it at this particular moment)? Please share your responses in words, images, art, poetry, or any other way you'd like.
Day 2: The Heart of Hope
Today is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. December 2 marks the date of the adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (
A quote from Brené Brown:
If we want to cultivate hopefulness, we have to be willing to be flexible and demonstrate perseverance. Not every goal will look and feel the same. Tolerance for disappointment, determination, and a belief in self are the heart of hope.
For more of Dr. Brené Brown’s writing and research, visit BrenéBrown.com.
Day 2 Reflection
Share in words, images, art, poetry, or any other way you'd like to express yourself about a time in your life when something felt hopeless, but you persevered and reached your goal?
Day 3: Infinite Hope
Each and every time I see this bridge and think about what happened there in 1965, I find hope. This is the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where on March 7th, 1965, marchers were attacked by police as they attempted a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery to protest the treatment of Black Americans.
From the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.
Read more from and about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at The King Center.
Day 3 Reflection
Think about a time when you felt like giving up, when hopelessness pervaded your soul. What, if anything, helped to ground you? Was it something small like a smile from a stranger, something routine like my friend Annie at Nomadic Life Scribbles writes about watching the sunrise each morning, or is it something else that drives you forward? Whatever it is, how can you have more of that in your life?
Day 4: Hope Requires Action
For the last three days, I’ve written about heavy subjects: Slavery, mass incarceration, the Civil Rights Movement. You get the picture. I was due for a change and figured you were too. So on this the fourth day of Thirty Days of Hope, I had intended to write about nature. Nature is filled with hope, like robins returning to northern lawns to forecast t…
A quote from President Barack Obama:
Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
Read more about President Barack Obama at Barack Obama Presidential Library
Day 4 Reflection
What are you called to do today? Is there a letter you could write that would make you feel like you acted on your hopeful future—the future you dream about? The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, who I wrote about in Day 2’s post: The Heart of Hope started a friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt by writing letters to then President Roosevelt and copying his wife. Even in this day, letters matter!
An added challenge for extra credit: Please consider writing a letter to:
Mr. John Furner
President and CEO Walmart
U.S. 702 S.W. 8th St.
Bentonville, AR 72716
Or to any or all of the CEOs of companies that have recently pulled back their support of DEI initiatives:
Walmart
Ford Motor Company
Harley-Davidson
John Deere
Tractor Supply
Lowe’s
Moolson Coors
Brown-Forman (Jack Daniel’s)
Caterpillar
Toyota
Boeing
For more information read: List: Companies that have recently rolled back DEI policies and the major conservative activist behind these rollbacks. You might also appreciate this interview with
Day 5: Hope Illustrated
Today in Richmond the wind is blowing hard, the high today is going to be 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and for the seventh straight night, it’s going to drop into the 20s tonight. I know that for some of you that might be warm. You have a ton of snow on the ground and more on the way. It might only be warming to 10 or 20 degrees where you are, so what do I ha…
From marine biologist, writer, and conservationist, Rachel Carson
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.
For more of Rachel Carson’s writings, visit RachelCarson.com
Day 5 Reflection
As you look at each of these photos, which one calls to you, which one gives you hope? Write something that reflects the inspiration that photo offers.
Do you have a special nature photo that helps ground you during tough times? Pull it out today and remember the feeling you had when you took it. Let it remind you that when you need hope look to nature first because you’ll be sure to find it there. I’d love to see it, so send it to me if you’d like to share it.
So that does it! Five days of hope. After reflecting so deeply on hope, am I still scared about what’s ahead? Absolutely! But I do feel a tiny bit more grounded. I have a little more clarity about what I can do. I’m still a long way from feeling optimistic, which is different than hopeful, but I have reminded myself that perseverance, determination, disappointment, courage, and the beauty and rhythms of nature are all essential ingredients of hope.
I hope you’ll hang in there with me.
With hope in my heart,
Annette
